Barcelona lost vs Athletic in the Copa del Rey and Xavi could be on his way out

Barcelona needed a win against Athletic Bilbao in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey to advance to the next phase of the tournament and move even closer to the goal of winning a title this season. This is not a minor detail, as last week manager Xavi Hernandez assured that, in the event of not winning any tournament, he will consider his work at the club a failure and will leave.

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But the task on Wednesday was not easy. They were facing one of the best teams in La Liga (in fact Los Leones only have 3 points less than Los Blaugranas in the standings) and they were doing it at the Nuevo San Mames stadium. There Athletic are very strong because they count on the support of their fans.

Both teams played an unforgettable match. Gorka Guruzeta scored the opener just a few minutes after the start of the match, but that joy was short-lived for the hosts. Barcelona reacted and completed the comeback through Robert Lewandowski (with an absurd goal after a very lucky rebound) and Lamine Yamal, who did something wonderful with the ball at his feet, imitating Lionel Messi.

However, at the beginning of the second half Ohian Sancet equalized the score 2-2 with a header. In the following minutes neither team could make the difference, but in stoppage time Yamal missed a very clear opportunity that could have changed everything. After the end of the 90 minutes came the extra time and there Athletic made the difference thanks to Iñaki Williams, who scored the third goal at the end of the first half. And finally Nico Williams netted the 4-2 in the last minute.

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The coach is having more and more problems

Xavi Hernandez is in a difficult position. He has been harshly criticized by the press and fans for his strategic decisions and the team's poor performances. He himself made it a condition to stay at the club at the end of this season to win a title, but with the elimination in the Copa del Rey he has only two options left: La Liga, in which Barcelona are far behind the leaders, or the Champions League, the most difficult tournament in Europe.